2014 BUDGET SUBMISSIONS
BACKGROUND
As the treasurer of an AMS subsidiary, it is your job to
create a sound budget for your organisation to use in
its operation throughout the 2014 fiscal year (FY2014).
The Finance Commission of the AMS is responsible
for the collection, approval, and maintenance of all
subsidiary budgets throughout the year. We are also
here to help in the budgeting process, if needed. All
budgets must be submitted by 30 June 2013 or your
accounts will be frozen.
DID YOU KNOW
FINCOM ADMINISTERS NUMEROUS FUNDS THAT YOUR
ORGANISATION CAN BENEFIT FROM. VISIT OUR WEBSITE
AMS.UBC.CA/FINCOM FOR MORE INFORMATION
STEP 1: REVIEW THE ACTUALS
In the Excel spreadsheet you have received, review the actual amounts from your organisation’s finances from the past fiscal
years. Remember that each ‘account’ represents a type/category of revenue.
REVENUES are coded as XXX-5XXX-XX. All of income that your organisation takes will be placed into a 5000-series revenue
account. To help keep track of your finances, each revenue stream (membership fees, event tickets, food sales, etc) should have
its own revenue account code. While revenue accounts hold incoming monies, please note that when entering this data into
Excel, it will appear as a negative. For example, if you take in $2,000 in membership fees, your spreadsheet will look like: (2000)
EXPENSES are coded as XXX-7XXX-XX. Any monies that are being paid out from your organisation are paid from a 7000-series
expense account. Just as your revenue accounts are separated for each revenue stream, you should make sure that for all
expenditures, you have a separate expense account. In expense accounts, all of your funds are coded to be positive in your
spreadsheet. For instance, if you have $200 in photocopying expenses, your spreadsheet will look like: 200
**STAR ACCOUNTS** do not contain any financial information. They are simply placeholders that are utilised to denote your
organisations name, activity codes, etc. To use activity codes, specify at the top of your spreadsheet what they activity is then use
the next available code in your budget. For example, if you are the Party People Undergraduate Society and want to keep track of
your revenues and expenses for frosh separate from other accounts, you will add **FROSH** along with your new activity code
123-5050-01. The last two digits reflect the activity. See the example below for more help:
123-0000-00 **PARTY PEOPLE UNDERGRADUATE SOCIETY**
123-5050-00GENERAL REVENUE
123-7070-00GENERAL EXPENSES
123-0000-01**FROSH**
123-5050-01GENERAL REVENUE
123-7070-01GENERAL EXPENSES
WE KNOW YOUR BUDGET TEMPLATE WILL
LOOK A LITTLE UGLY, BUT LEAVE IT BE! IF YOU
CHANGE ANY FORMATTING, OUR SYSTEMS
CANNOT PROCESS IT AND YOUR BUDGET WILL
NOT BE APPROVED
MISCELLANEOUS REVENUES & EXPENDITURES. THESE ACCOUNTS MAY NOT MAKE UP MORE THAN 5% OF YOUR OVERALL
OPERATING BUDGET AND SHOULD ONLY BE USED FOR INCOME AND EXPENSES OUTSIDE THE NORMAL OPERATIONS OF
YOUR ORGANISATION OR FOR UNPLANNED INCOME AND/OR EXPENSES.
STEP 2: BUDGET FOR FY2014
The fiscal year runs from 1 May 2013 to 30 April 2014. Working from last years “actuals,” begin to plan our your budget for the
upcoming year. Keep in mind that while slight adjustments are necessary, you likely will not need to change significant portions
of your budget.
INFLATION AND CONSERVATISM When reviewing the budget, you should start by adding at least a 5% cushion onto every one
of your revenue and expense accounts. This is done to ensure that you aren’t expecting nor spending more than you should be.
REVENUES This means that when budgeting your revenue accounts, if you took in $500 in membership fees last year, take that
number and remove at most 5%, making your expected membership revenue $475. This can be done within Excel by typing the
following into your cell: =500*.95
EXPENSES You should do the same maneuver with your expenses, however you will add a 5% cushion onto your anticipated
expense. Meaning if you expect to pay $100 in food costs, budget for $105. This can be done within Excel by typing the following
into your cell: =100*1.05
STEP 3: INPUT YOUR BUDGET DATA
Measure twice, cut once. Have a couple of people on your executive team double check your budget numbers. Once your
budget is submitted, there is a very short window in which you can change entries before it is inputted into our accounting
systems.
BUDGETING BY PERIODS On the budget template, your budget is broken down by periods, each of which represents a month
in the fiscal year. While we aren’t too concerned with how closely you are following your month-to-month budgeting, FINCOM
would like to know what the general cash flow will be looking like for your organisation. Period 1 represents May 2013 and
Period 12 is April 2013. The totals for the year will be automatically calculated by the Excel template.
PROFIT/LOSS ESTIMATE In the bottom right-hand corner of the worksheet, you will find your final estimate for this year’s fiscal
activity. The amount in this box must be negative (meaning you are profitable, not at a loss). If you submit a budget reflecting
a loss in the fiscal year, FINCOM will require you resubmit a new budget. If you are having trouble calculating this, contact the
commission vice-chair for assistance.
STEP 4: SUBMIT YOUR BUDGET
Your budget is due by 5 p.m. on 30 June 2013. Please submit it via email to the Vice-Chair at [email protected]. Once
approved, you will receive an email confirming your budget’s status as well as access to AMSOnline, our electronic financial
information system.
HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF A COMPLETED, PROPERLY FORMATTED BUDGET. WHILE YOUR BUDGET
WILL RETAIN THE SAME SHAPE, IT IS NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENTATIVE OF YOUR INDIVIDUAL
ORGANISATIONS NEEDS. AT THE END OF THE DAY, ENSURE THAT THE BOTTOM RIGHT-HAND
CORNER IS HIGHLIGHTED GREEN, INDICATING YOU ARE NOT OPERATING AT A DEFICIT!
FINCOM
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UDGE
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GOT QUESTIONS? CONTACT JEFF ASCHKINASI,
VICE-CHAIR OF THE FINANCE COMMISSION AT [email protected].